The Westerville South High School Wildcats always have a top-notch running back. Several years ago, there was Ki-jana Carter. Last year there was Jayshon Jackson, who broke all of Carter’s rushing records.

Jackson made tackles miss and grab air as he ran behind the offensive line. During the past two seasons, Jackson carried the ball 700 + times and surpassed 2,000-yards twice.

Westerville South High School

Jackson was only 5’8, 180-pounds but in 2010, he rushed for 2,583 yards and 23 touchdowns.

Jackson is playing this season at Grand Rapids Community College in Michigan.

After last season, Westerville South fans wondered who would fill the shoes of Jackson running the football. They probably forgot that there was a very capable back-up waiting in the wings named Daxton Cates.

Cates was very solid in 2010, rushing for 512 yards and 8 touchdowns on 92 carries.

South head football coach Rocky Pentello said all along that Cates was more than capable of being the next big-time running back for the Wildcats. And he has.

Cates is bigger than Jackson, at 5-feet-10, 215-pounds. He can run around and over tacklers on the field.

Westerville South Junior Varsity in action

Cates has picked up where Jackson left off. In Week 1 of the 2011 season against Groveport in a 47-18 win, the senior rushed for 229 yards on 17 carries and 2 touchdowns.

In week 2, a 27-14 loss at Dublin Coffman, Cates improved to 236 yards on 30 carries, an 88-yard TD run. He had 216 yards in the first half.

Westerville South is in one of the top conferences in the state of Ohio, the Ohio Capital Conference, Cardinal Division. The division has Dublin Jerome, Dublin Scioto, Marysville, Olentangy, Olentangy Liberty, Westerville Central and Westerville North. The Wildcats are the kingpins of the division winning the title in 2010 with a 9-3 record overall and a playoff berth. They were 6-1 in their league.

From all of the recruiting reports, Cates is receiving interest from Ohio University, Wisconsin, Akron, Saginaw Valley State, Bowling Green and Ohio State’s name has been mentioned as well.

The name Cates is familiar around Westerville. His cousin, Wes Cates, was a standout running back at Westerville North and is a Hall of Famer at California University of Pennsylvania where he compiled 5,647 total yards.

We’d like to thank Westerville South head football coach Rocky Pentello for allowing us to watch practice, to take photos and talk to Daxton Cates.